A’s trade of Josh Donaldson is hard to figure out

Updated 12:32 pm, Monday, December 1, 2014

Photo: Dilip Vishwanat, Getty Images

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Josh Donaldson #20 and Sam Fuld #23 celebrate after Brandon Moss #37 of the Oakland Athletics hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals during the American League Wild Card game at Kauffman Stadium on September 30, 2014 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Josh Donaldson #20 and Sam Fuld #23 celebrate after Brandon Moss #37 of the Oakland Athletics hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals during the American League Wild Card

Oakland Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson throws to first base for an out during the first inning of his baseball game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif.

Oakland Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson throws to first base for an out during the first inning of his baseball game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif.

A's third baseman Josh Donaldson high fives fans as he is introduced before the game against the Indians on Monday. The Oakland Athletics played the Cleveland Indians at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, March 31, 2014. The A's lost their home opener 2-0 to the Indians less

A's third baseman Josh Donaldson high fives fans as he is introduced before the game against the Indians on Monday. The Oakland Athletics played the Cleveland Indians at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on ... more

Josh Donaldson (20) celebrated with teammates after his 6th inning home run scored two. The Oakland Athletics defeated the San Francisco Giants 6-1 in the last game of the Bay Bridge series Thursday July 10, 2014 at AT&T park. less

Josh Donaldson (20) celebrated with teammates after his 6th inning home run scored two. The Oakland Athletics defeated the San Francisco Giants 6-1 in the last game of the Bay Bridge series Thursday July 10, ... more

Josh Donaldson was one of the A’s top sluggers during the past three seasons.

Josh Donaldson was one of the A’s top sluggers during the past three seasons.

Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

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Josh Donaldson, who was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason, was awarded $4.3 million Friday by the panel of Steven Wolf, Robert Herzog and Gary Kendellen rather than the $5.75 million he sought in arbitration. less

Josh Donaldson, who was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason, was awarded $4.3 million Friday by the panel of Steven Wolf, Robert Herzog and Gary Kendellen rather than the $5.75 million he sought in ... more

Photo: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images

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A’s trade of Josh Donaldson is hard to figure out

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Josh Donaldson was the A’s best overall player. Even when Yoenis Céspedes was around.

He plays a premium position and has a splendid arm and range. He’s a consistent run producer. Good baserunner. Stays healthy. Passes the scouts’ eye tests and sabermetricians’ computer tests.

A Gold Glove candidate. An MVP candidate. A franchise player. And perfect for the A’s — an affordable star in his prime. He’s 28 (29 in December) and won’t be a free agent until after the 2018 season.

The last guy the A’s would trade after their late-season free fall? Actually, he was the first.

Four months after general manager Billy Beane’s bold moves for rotation depth signified the A’s were all in on 2014, Donaldson’s departure to Toronto in Friday’s trade suggests the opposite on 2015, at least for now, especially with reports that Jeff Samardzija is on the trade block and could be the next out the door.

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I’d say the A’s will miss Donaldson more than Céspedes, and a ton of fans swear Céspedes’ absence ruined the A’s. The past two years, Céspedes hit just .251 with a .298 on-base percentage and .446 slugging percentage compared with Donaldson’s .277/.363/.477. Donaldson had five more homers and 11 more RBIs.

The on-base percentages (.363 to .298) show the biggest gap between the players, and it’s a stat the A’s cherish. For as much as fans wanted to blame the Céspedes trade for their team’s collapse, several players — including Brandon Moss, Jed Lowrie and Coco Crisp — went in simultaneous slides at the worst possible time, and it’s silly to say they fell apart because Céspedes wasn’t there to hold their hands.

Donaldson, whose OBP was .368 following the Céspedes deal, does things superstars do. His WAR (wins above replacement), which weighs a player’s overall value, was the second-best in the majors in 2013 and 2014, trailing Mike Trout and ahead of Andrew McCutchen and Robinson Cano.

And Donaldson played for the major-league minimum each year.

So, yes, he was baseball’s most underpaid player, and now he’s eligible for arbitration for the first time but still won’t break the bank like he would as a free agent. If the Giants were willing to pay $95 million for Pablo Sandoval, imagine what Donaldson, a superior third baseman on many levels, could get on the open market.

That’s what made him so valuable to the A’s, the fact he wouldn’t be a free agent for four years. For this team, that’s a lifetime. For this GM, that’s a lot of reshuffling. Beane doesn’t believe in standing pat, but he won’t say he’s rebuilding, either, though others (including Josh Reddick) would.

And as always with this team, it’s premature to condemn before the finished product is in place. If Beane finds a proven shortstop — such as the White Sox’s Alexei Ramirez in a package for Samardzija — the lineup suddenly deepens (the A’s also like minor-league White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson), though it would be hard to imagine the A’s returning to the postseason without Jon Lester and Samardzija, not to mention Donaldson.

The morning after the trade, word circulated of an in-season spat between Beane and Donaldson after Donaldson requested a couple of days off to get right physically. According to sources, Beane suggested if Donaldson were that banged up, he’d need to go on the disabled list, prompting the two to have words.

“We had a talk, but that was before the All-Star break,” Donaldson said via text when asked about the issue on Saturday.

Beane said in a text it was “normal protocol,” adding management typically has talks with players over potential DL stints. “Josh just needed a couple days and then he was back out there. No big deal.”

Donaldson, dependable on the field and marketable off, was a stand-up guy with the A’s. His locker was closest to the clubhouse entrance, and he was almost always available to reporters when not everyone else was. Teammates will miss him, same with fans. But they’re well-versed on the subject, given the team’s roster juggling over the years.

Maybe Beane will prove doubters wrong again. Maybe Lawrie, Graveman, Nolin and Barreto will make this a great trade. Maybe this is the start of a conga line of deals that’ll turn the A’s into a playoff team in 2015.

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